"If Bill English... as he said on Friday night, he said he'd make a phone call... He hasn't made a phone call, but if he did, we'd be duty-bound to listen to what he has to say."

Dealing with National is clearly not Shaw's preference, but he refuses to completely rule it out.

It might not be realistic right now, but if Winston Peters' negotiations with National and the Labour-Greens combination falter or fall over completely in the coming weeks, formal talks on a Green-National deal of some kind could emerge.